Pokémon - the Path to Victory
by this is the best username
Summary: Follow the journey of Ash Ketchum as he and his friends leave Pallet Town to be Pokémon Trainers and meet plenty of Pokemon and maybe save the world a couple times, too. Rewrite of the Pokémon anime with a more mature Ash who ages. Will contain shipping of some sort.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic ever and my first time writing in years, so please be patient with me. I was inspired to write this by FanaticLAguy06's story, which I highly recommend you read. And yeah, I realize I stole some ideas from him. For example, the starting Trainers from Pallet Town and the Pokémon they receive are exactly the same, so credit goes to FanaticLAguy06 for that. I wanted to change it, but there was really no better way to do it.**

 **So anyway, this is a rewrite of the Pokémon anime. It will contain more mature content than the original (though not likely enough to earn it an M rating) and ASH WILL AGE, and I'm already starting with him being slightly older than in the anime. I've got 4 chapters written so far that only have to be proofread and posted, so I will post at least those, and then if anyone actually reads it I'll keep going.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon, or any of FanaticLAguy06's ideas.**

* * *

CHAPTER I

As the stars shone late at night over the town of Pallet, three twelve-year-old kids lay awake in their beds, unable to contain their excitement. One of those kids was a boy by the name of Ash Ketchum. His lifelong dream was to become a Pokémon Master, and the next morning would be his first step toward achieving that dream. It was unfortunate that his father, Red, wouldn't be able to be there to see him off, but that was just how things had to be. Ash glanced at his Poké Ball-shaped alarm clock. It was 3:00 a.m. He knew he would be exhausted in the morning, but his excitement hadn't allowed him to sleep yet. He knew the morning would come sooner if he wasn't awake and waiting all night, so he shut his eyes tightly with a small grin on his face and silently pleaded for some sleep.

* * *

Ash awoke rather suddenly, and realizing what day it was, he looked over to where his alarm clock was. Or rather, where it should have been. The alarm clock was mysteriously absent. He looked around in confusion for a moment before noticing the shattered remains of his favorite alarm clock on the floor across the room. He must have broken it in his sleep.

Ash yanked open the curtains to have a look outside. The sun was already high in the sky and people were going about their daily business. It must have been nearly noon.

"Oh no, I'm late!" he muttered to himself in frustration as he sprinted across the house and out the door without a word to his mother. Suddenly, he smashed headfirst into something he didn't quite have time to see.

"Ow!" He recognized his friend Serena's voice. "What was that for?"

"Sorry," Ash said as he rose to his feet, clutching his head. "I thought you were waiting at Professor Oak's lab."

"We were," Serena replied. "For two hours, actually. Leaf and I decided to come and see if there was a problem."

Ash now noticed that Leaf, another of his friends, had been watching the whole scene. "At this rate, we'll be lucky if Professor Oak lets us have a Pokémon at all," she told him.

Ash took a moment to look at his two friends. He had so many great memories with each of them. He had met Serena at Professor Oak's summer camp a few years ago. He couldn't quite remember how they had met, but they had been friends ever since. He admired her long honey-colored hair and her fashion sense. Leaf, with her long brown hair and energetic eyes, had been his friend for as long as he could remember. In recent years, he had started to feel something special for her. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but there was no doubt that it was there. Looking down at himself now and realizing that he hadn't changed out of his pajamas, Ash felt his face turn a bit red. Why did he always have to look like an idiot in front of her? At least his hair wasn't noticeably worse than usual, since it was virtually impossible for it to get any messier than it usually was.

"Sorry, guys," he said sheepishly. "I guess I slept in a little."

"Let's not waste any time," Serena said. "We still want to get our first Pokémon, don't we?"

"Right," Ash agreed. "To the Pokémon Lab!"

* * *

As the trio arrived at the laboratory, they were all hit with a surge of memories of Professor Oak's summer camp. It had been almost five years now, but the memory was still fresh in their minds like it had only been a few days ago. The Professor had thought it would be a good idea to start up a summer camp on his vast property where he kept traveling Trainers' Pokémon. The only problem was that some of those Pokémon could be dangerous. Although there weren't any serious incidents, the summer camp was shut down after just one year of operation.

Suddenly the double doors burst open in front of them. A spiky-haired boy with a smug expression walked out, tossing a Poké Ball up in the air repeatedly with his right hand.

"So you're the three wannabe Trainers, huh?" he said to them. "Well, unfortunately for you, I've already got the best Pokémon. It pays to have a granddad in the business." He gave them an arrogant smirk. "The name's Gary Oak. Learn it. You'll be hearing it a lot when I become the world's greatest Pokémon Master." With that, he marched off, looking quite pleased with himself.

Ash and Serena were both ready to explode with rage at Gary's arrogance, but Leaf had to suppress a giggle. She thought this kid was pretty entertaining, if not a bit delusional.

The doors swung open again, less violently this time. Professor Oak stood in the doorway. The three couldn't help but notice that he seemed to look older with each time they saw him. "It's about time you three showed up," he said. "And Ash, what's up with your clothing? You look like you're ready for bed, not for Pokémon training!" he added, noticing Ash was still in his pajamas.

"Oh, trust me, Professor, I'm ready!" Ash replied.

"All right," the Professor said. "In that case, why don't you all come in?"

Though it wasn't their first time seeing it, the laboratory was still a spectacular sight. It was filled with high tech machines everywhere. On a desk in the back lay three Poké Balls. The three kids' hearts began to race when they saw them. This was the moment they'd been waiting their entire lives for.

"I just need to check your records to make sure you're all of age," Professor Oak told them as he sat down at his computer. "After all, we don't want to be giving out Pokémon to kids who aren't mature enough to be able to take care of them and keep them under control."

"Please make it quick, Professor," Ash said impatiently. "I'm dying to get a Pokémon!"

"Ash!" Serena scolded. "Have a little patience. Remember how long Leaf and I had to wait for you this morning?"

Ash gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, right," he said. "Sorry."

"Ah, good," the Professor said, deciding it was best to ignore their comments. "I see you're all twelve years old. You may now select your Pokémon." He gestured with his arm to direct their attention to the three Poké Balls on the table. "Please settle your decisions peacefully."

"Ladies first," Ash said immediately. In truth, he hadn't decided yet which Pokémon he wanted, but he also wanted to act like a gentleman around Leaf.

"Go ahead, Leaf," Serena said.

"Oh, um, thank you," Leaf said, stepping forward to the desk. "I thought about it for a really long time, and I've decided that I'll choose Squirtle."

She pressed the button on the Poké Ball on the far right and it popped open to reveal... Nothing.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Professor said. "My grandson Gary stopped by for a surprise visit earlier today. I let him have one of the Pokémon."

So this Gary was Professor Oak's grandson. They knew that Professor's only son was Blue Oak. So Gary had to be Blue's son. The group was a bit surprised when they realized this. They would have expected a better attitude coming from the son of the region's Pokémon League Champion. Then again, maybe Gary had let his family's fame go to his head.

"Oh, that's all right," Leaf said. "I'll take Bulbasaur, then."

Bulbasaur popped out of its Poké Ball and Leaf picked it up in her arms and began to stroke it. Its expression of unease quickly turned to a smile. "Bulba!" it said contentedly. It looked like the two would get along quite well

"I think Bulbasaur suits you more than Squirtle, anyway," Ash told her. "After all, your name is Leaf, so it's kind of fitting that you'd get a grass Pokémon."

"Oh, shut up," Leaf said playfully.

Professor Oak cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I've got a tight schedule," he said. "Would you mind saving your chatting for afterward?"

"Sorry, Professor," Ash and Leaf said. Then, turning to Serena, Ash said, "You're up next."

"All right," Serena said, stepping up to the desk. "I'll take Charmander!"

The reptilian Pokémon appeared from its Poké Ball and looked at Serena with its big, bright eyes. "Well, aren't you a cute one," Serena said, crouching down to speak to it at eye level.

"Char! Char!" it said, jumping up and down and waving its little arms excitedly. It then launched an Ember attack straight into Serena's face.

"That Charmander is a playful little one," Professor Oak informed her, "and it doesn't seem to know its own strength. Are you sure you can handle it, Serena?"

"Yes, Professor," Serena replied, as she was just recovering from the Ember attack. "It might take some time, but I'm sure Charmander and I will become best friends. Isn't that right, Charmander?"

In response, Charmander blew another Ember attack in her face.

"Um, Professor?" Ash questioned with a worried look on his face. "There don't seem to be any Pokémon left."

"Oh, no!" the Professor exclaimed. "How could I have forgotten? I hadn't expected Gary to come by today, so I hadn't prepared enough Pokémon! Every time, I used to prepare a spare Pokémon, just in case, but I never used them, so this time I assumed I wouldn't need one. Uh, hold on, Ash, I'll find you something." The Professor rushed out of the room.

The group waited for a moment, until Leaf broke the silence. "Well, is this exciting or what?"

"Definitely," Serena replied. "Although it has been a bit crazy."

"Yeah, sorry," Ash said, knowing he was at least partially to blame.

Suddenly they heard the Professor's voice from the other room. "Ah! Here it is!"

Professor Oak returned with a Poké Ball in his hands. "Now, Ash, I must warn you, this Pokémon was found half dead in Viridian Forest, and no one really knows what happened to it. We nursed it back to health, but it's never been very trusting of humans." He handed the ball to Ash. "But it's the best I've got."

"It doesn't matter," Ash said. "I'll take it, no matter what." He pressed the button on the Poké Ball. "Come on out!"

The Pokémon that appeared from the Poké Ball was rodent-like and yellow with red circles on its cheeks. "Pikachu," it said.

"That's Pikachu," Professor Oak told him, "an electric-type Pokémon."

"Great to meet you, buddy!" Ash said with a smile. "Are you ready to explore the world?"

Pikachu shrank back in fear. Who was this human? What did he want?

"It's okay, Pikachu," Ash said reassuringly. "I won't hurt you." He picked up the Pokémon in his arms.

Pikachu began to panic. It had been taken hostage! It had to find a way to escape!

"Pikachuuuu!" it cried, unleashing a Thundershock on Ash. The sudden jolt of electricity forced him to drop Pikachu, and it ran straight for the door, pulled it open, and ran outside.

"What... Hey!" Ash shouted, and chased after the Pokémon. "Pikachu! Come back!"

"Ash, wait!" Leaf called after him. She and Serena had no choice but to follow him. They returned their new Pokémon to their Poké Balls and ran after him.

Outside, there was no sign of Pikachu. Ash was crushed. How could he become a Pokémon Master if he couldn't even keep a Pokémon for a whole minute?

"Excuse me, sir," he called out to a man who was passing by. "Did you happen to see a Pikachu come by here just a moment ago?"

The man shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "I haven't seen it."

As Serena and Leaf caught up to him, Ash heard a familiar voice. "Well, what do we have here?" Gary Oak said, stepping out from behind a signpost to where they could see him. "You've already lost your Pokémon? That was so fast, it must be some kind of world record!"

Ash gritted his teeth. "I'll show you!" he said. "You just wait!"

Suddenly they all heard a cry. "Pikaaa!" It sounded like Pikachu. It was in trouble.

"Let's go," Ash said. "Come on!"

"You should help too, Gary," Leaf suggested.

"I don't have time to be helping you," Gary replied. "I've got to become a Pokémon Master. I'll be heading to Viridian City."

The group decided to forget about Gary and ran to find Pikachu. Behind the lab, they found it being chased by a wild Rattata. Pikachu looked very afraid.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled. He dove in front of the Rattata and grabbed onto it. The Pokémon bit down on his hand with its large front teeth. Ash winced in pain but he forced himself to tolerate it. He picked up the Rattata and threw it into the trees. It didn't come back.

Ash bent down and extended his arm toward Pikachu. "You're not hurt, that's good," he said. "I think we should head back to the lab now, okay, Pikachu?"

Pikachu hesitated. It was normally nervous around people, especially after... No, it couldn't think about that. The memories were too painful. But this human had just saved it. Maybe it would be all right to trust this one.

"Pika," it said with a small smile before stepping forward into Ash's arms. He picked up the Pokémon and stood up.

"Well," he said. "Back to the lab?"

"Yeah," Serena and Leaf replied.

* * *

"Well, you found Pikachu," the Professor said, "and you even gained its trust. That's quite impressive, Ash."

"Thank you, Professor," Ash replied.

"It seems this first... adventure has been a test of sorts. I can see now that you've all proven yourselves to be worthy Trainers, and I don't doubt that you'll be successful in the future," Professor Oak continued. "So I've decided to give you each a Pokédex. And here are some Poké Balls as well."

"Thanks so much, Professor!" they all said as they accepted the items.

"And you're all set to be Pokémon Trainers!" he told them.

After thanking him again, the three new trainers stepped outside, with Ash still holding Pikachu in his arms. Ash's mom, Delia, was waiting for them outside.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you all!" she said. "You're growing up so fast! But, Ash..." she added in a more worried tone. "I'm going to miss you so much!"

"I'll miss you too, Mom," Ash said. "But don't worry. I'll keep in touch whenever I can."

"And that's your Pokémon?" his mom asked. "It's really cute! But aren't Pokémon usually kept in their Poké Balls?"

"Oh, yeah," Ash said. He had forgotten about that. He picked up Pikachu's Poké Ball and held it up. "Pikachu, get in the ball."

Pikachu got a terrified expression on its face and shook its head.

Ash was confused for a moment. Then, his face returned to its usual confident smile. "You know what?" he said. "If Pikachu doesn't want to go in its Poké Ball, it doesn't have to. It can just stay outside."

"Hey, guys," Serena said, "why don't we all go to my house? Assuming you two weren't planning on leaving today."

"That would be great!" Ash replied. "I think it would be a bit too late to leave today anyway. What do you think, Leaf?"

"Of course! I'm coming!" she responded.

* * *

"Thanks for letting us come over on such short notice," Ash said to Grace, Serena's mother.

"Oh, it's not a problem at all," she replied. "Just try not to destroy the place."

"Don't worry about it," Ash reassured her. He ran over to join the others.

"Why don't we all go together?" Serena was suggesting. "It'll be more pleasant and less lonely that way."

"I was hoping that would be how it would work out," Leaf said. "I didn't want to go alone."

"I guess that settles it," Ash said. "We'll all go together tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan!" Leaf agreed. "Just don't leave us waiting for hours again."

At this, Ash frowned disapprovingly while Serena and Leaf laughed loudly.

* * *

The next morning, the three new trainers met at Serena's house. Pikachu, who was perched on Ash's shoulder, was now getting quite used to being with Ash and his friends.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash noticed a figure watching them. He squinted to get a better look.

"Gary!?" he exclaimed as the figure approached. "I thought you went to Viridian City!"

"I tried," Gary explained, "but the road was closed for construction. Also, I wanted to have a Pokémon battle with you. Just so you know what you're up against."

This would be a good opportunity to teach Gary a lesson, Ash thought.

"Okay, you're on!" Ash said. "Let me see what you've got!"

"Um, Ash –" Serena started to say as she noticed Pikachu's expression.

"I'm busy, Serena," Ash interrupted. "Pikachu, go!"

Pikachu stayed on Ash's shoulder. "Pika," it said nervously.

"Come on, Pikachu," Ash said. "Don't just sit there."

"Ash!" Serena said, louder this time. "Pikachu is scared to battle. Don't force it if it's not ready."

Ash looked at Serena, then at Pikachu. He sighed. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry, Gary, but our battle will have to wait until another time. Pikachu, I'm sorry. I rushed into the battle without considering how you felt about it."

"Pika pika" the electric mouse said. It seemed to forgive Ash.

"Heh. You've got a Pokémon that can't even battle. What a loser," Gary said.

"Next time we meet, we'll battle, Gary," Ash said. "Pikachu and I will show you just how far we've come as a team."

"Whatever," Gary replied, turning away.

"Don't mind him, Ash," Leaf said. "He's just trying to get on your nerves."

"I know," Ash replied. "And it's working."

* * *

 **Well, that concludes the first chapter. Please let me know what you think! I'll update with Chapter 2, uh, at some point. I'm not going to make any promises about when, because I'm terribly disorganized, but I expect I'll be able to have in up within the next couple of days.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's Chapter 2. Unfortunately it's a lot shorter than I would have liked, but I don't want to force myself to write longer chapters and end up with them being full of unnecessary information that disrupts the flow. As I said in the last chapter, I will be posting the first four chapters, then I will decide whether to continue the story or take it down based on whether people read it or not.**

* * *

CHAPTER II

Ash, Serena and Leaf were finally headed toward Viridian City. The sun was still rising in the cloudless sky.

"I can't believe it," Ash said. "We're actually on a Pokémon journey. This is the most amazing feeling. I've been waiting my whole life for this."

"I know," Leaf agreed. "It feels almost like a dream."

"Well, if it is a dream, don't wake me," Ash said as he started running. The others followed closely behind him.

Suddenly, Ash stopped. His hand went to his pocket.

"Is something wrong, Ash?" Leaf asked.

"No, there's no problem," he replied. "I just saw a wild Pokémon."

He pulled out his Pokédex to scan the bird-like Pokémon.

"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," it said in its mechanical voice. "It is a very common Pokémon and is easy to capture for beginning Trainers."

"So that's a Pidgey," Ash said to himself. "I'm gonna catch it! Go, Poké Ball!"

He tossed an empty Poké Ball at the Pidgey. It popped open and Pidgey disappeared inside with a flash of light. The Poké Ball fell to the ground and started to shake.

Ash was staring at it intensely with his fists clenched. "Come on," he muttered.

The Poké Ball burst open suddenly and Pidgey flew away.

"Ash, if you want to catch a Pokémon, you usually have to battle it first to weaken it," Serena reminded him.

"Right," Ash said. "I know."

Moments later, another Pidgey hopped out from underneath a bush.

"I'll get you this time," Ash said. "Pikachu, go get it!"

Pikachu stood terrified on Ash's shoulder and didn't move a muscle. The Pidgey hopped obliviously across the path and out of sight.

Ash looked at his partner Pokémon. He was feeling a bit frustrated, but he pushed that feeling aside. "You all right, buddy?" he asked instead.

Pikachu looked down shamefully. "Pika," it said softly. Ash remembered how Professor Oak had said that Pikachu had been found nearly dead in Viridian Forest before the lab had taken it in. He would have to be especially careful with it.

"Listen, Pikachu," Ash said gently. "I don't know what happened to you before in Viridian Forest, but I can promise you I won't let it happen again. As long as you're with me, I won't let anything happen to you. I won't send you into any situations where you'll get hurt. I'll help you and you'll help me. We'll be a team, and together we'll create years of unforgettable memories. You just have to trust me. Okay?"

Pikachu looked into Ash's eyes. They showed nothing but sincerity, and Pikachu knew that Ash meant every one of his words. It felt tears beginning to form in its eyes and it threw its arms around Ash with a cry of "Pika!"

"That's great, Pikachu!" Ash said with a huge smile. "So what do you say we try again with one of those Pidgey?"

Pikachu nodded. "Chu!"

Ash spotted a bird-like shape rustling inside a bush. "All right, here we go! Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder and unleashed a huge electric charge. "Pikachuuu!" It cried.

The Pokémon that had just been struck emerged from the bush with an irritated look on its face. It wasn't a Pidgey.

"What's that?" Ash wondered, pulling out his Pokédex.

"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," the Pokédex explained. "Unlike Pidgey, Spearow is known for its aggressive behavior. It will attack anyone who angers it."

"Spearoowwww!" the Pokémon cried, looking to the sky. Instantly an entire flock of Spearow took flight from a nearby tree and flew straight at the Trainers.

"Oh no," Ash said.

"Run!" Leaf yelled.

Ash picked up Pikachu and he, Serena and Leaf ran for their lives. None of them cared where they ended up, as long as they ended up alive. But suddenly, a huge canyon became visible in front them, with a river flowing rapidly far below them. The forest was nearly impassable on either side of them, and the Spearow would be able to navigate through it much faster than any human. They were trapped. Storm clouds began rolling in quickly, and as Ash turned around he could see that the Spearow were gaining on them. He then directed his gaze to the cliff and the raging river below.

"We have to jump," he said.

"Are you crazy?!" Serena yelled.

"We have to jump," he repeated, louder this time, trying to convince himself as well as the others.

"Ash is right," Leaf said. "We have no choice. There's nowhere else to go."

Ash and Leaf jumped over the edge, both screaming, with Ash holding Pikachu tightly in his right arm. Serena watched them go over, and with a mighty splash, they both disappeared into the river below. She looked back to see that the Spearow were closing in quickly. She ran along the edge of the cliff, hopping over bushes and ducking to avoid tree branches. She planted every step carefully, but just one time she stepped too close to the edge and the ground gave way beneath her feet. She tumbled down the cliff and felt her head strike something hard. Then everything went black.

* * *

Ash opened his eyes once he had entered the water. He couldn't see much, but he saw that Pikachu was already getting weaker. It wasn't used to being in the water. It was holding its breath but hardly moving. To his right he could just make out the shape of Leaf already making her way to the surface. The current was strong, but she was fighting it well. But where was Serena? Ash looked around. She hadn't stayed up there with the Spearow, had she? Then, to his left, something entered the water with a crash. Ash hoped it was Serena, but the splash had created so many bubbles that he couldn't be sure. Then he noticed something unusual. The bubbles were streaked with red. Finally they parted to reveal Serena's motionless, sinking body. Blood was rushing from a gash in her head.

"No, please don't be dead," Ash thought desperately. He made his way over to Serena and wrapped his free left arm around her. He began kicking violently, trying to propel himself to the surface, but the current was too strong, and the weight of Serena and Pikachu was tiring him quickly. He shut his eyes tightly and hoped for a miracle. The current pulled them down into the depths of the river.

* * *

An orange-haired girl by the name of Misty was just arriving at the shore of the river with her fishing gear. "Wow, the water is really rough today. I hope the fish will still be biting," she commented as she prepared her fishing rod. She cast a worried glance at the dark clouds that were thickening in the sky.

She cast her line into the water and seated herself on a nearby rock. The waves were only getting bigger. An especially massive wave surged from the river, crashing onto Misty and knocking her over. Then she realized she had been hit by something much heavier than just the water.

Ash opened his eyes. He couldn't believe his luck. The water had brought them onto land! Serena wasn't awake, but she was breathing, so maybe there was still hope. Pikachu was breathing heavily on his other side, its eyes halfway open. But where was Leaf? She was nowhere to be seen.

His thoughts were interrupted by an angry voice. "Will you get off me?!"

Ash turned around to see that they had landed on top of a girl. "Oh, sorry," he said.

"Oh, is your Pikachu okay?" the girl said, noticing the Pokémon for the first time. Ash thought it was odd that she only seemed to care about Pikachu.

"I think so," Ash replied. "I've got to get it to a Pokémon Center." Then he turned around to see that the Spearow flock was still chasing them in the ever darkening sky. "We have to go!" he yelled.

He picked up Pikachu and Serena and ran to a conveniently placed bike. "I'm borrowing this," he said to the girl.

"Hey! That's my bike!" she cried angrily, but Ash was already pedaling away. He had placed Pikachu in the basket at the front of the bike, and was holding the handlebars with one hand while the other was wrapped around Serena. The Spearow were getting closer.

The clouds had now completely covered the sky, and it started to rain. Lightning flashed in front of Ash but he paid no attention to it. His legs were completely worn out, but he forced himself to keep pedaling. The dirt beneath the tires was becoming slippery thanks to the pouring rain. Then, the bike's front tire suddenly struck a rock on the path. Ash, Serena and Pikachu were thrown off of it.

Ash couldn't run now. The Spearow were too close. He did the only thing he could think of. He stepped in front of Serena and Pikachu, shielding them from the Spearow's attacks.

"Do you know who I am? I'm Ash from the town of Pallet," he yelled. "I am destined to be the world's number one Pokémon Master. I can't be defeated by the likes of you. I'm going to capture and defeat you all. You hear me?" His words were braver than how he felt, and actually, he didn't care if he lived. He just wanted to make sure no one died because of him. He screamed as the Spearow began striking him like arrows. Through all the chaos, the last thing Ash saw was a large, glowing bird Pokémon flying majestically above him. It seemed to shine with all the colors of the rainbow, and the sight comforted him slightly as his body began to go numb.

* * *

 **That does it for Chapter 2. At this rate I'll probably have Chapter 3 up tomorrow. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everyone who has been reading my story! I think I will keep going after Chapter 4 but updates will be less often, probably not every day, and I'm anticipating that my schedule will be getting busier soon. Anyway, this chapter contains my attempt at writing some darker stuff. Please let me know what I did right and what I did wrong, and enjoy the chapter!**

 **Oh, also I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I obviously don't own Pokemon. I don't really get why I have to say that but everyone else is doing it, so… yeah.**

* * *

CHAPTER III

Ash opened his eyes slowly. His vision was blurred and unsteady. His whole body was unbearably sore, but he couldn't remember why. Where was he? He seemed to be lying on something soft. He tried to sit up, but a huge amount of pain shot through his arms and back and he cried out.

He heard someone tell him, "Don't try to move. You need to rest."

He lay back down and lost consciousness.

* * *

When Ash's eyes opened again, the pain was still there, but it wasn't as bad. He was able to sit up. He opened his eyes to look around.

He seemed to be in a bed in some kind of hospital. There was a curtain all around him. A pink-haired lady entered through an opening.

"Oh! You're awake!" she said.

"Yeah..." Ash said. "Where am I?"

"This is the Viridian City Pokémon Center. My name is Nurse Joy. How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Ash responded. How had he ended up in Viridian City? He tried to remember what had happened. He had left Pallet Town, and at some point he had angered a flock of Spearow... It was all very foggy, but he wanted to remember. They had all jumped off a cliff into a river, and then he'd taken a girl's bike to get away from the Spearow. They'd fallen off the bike and... What had happened? He couldn't remember anything after that. Serena had been unconscious, and Pikachu had been barely conscious. He didn't know anything about what had happened to Leaf.

"What happened to Serena, Leaf and Pikachu?" he asked Nurse Joy.

"Leaf is fine. She was one of the two girls that brought you here."

One of the two girls? Ash thought. Who would the other girl have been?

"We're taking care of Serena and Pikachu," Nurse Joy continued. "Pikachu is nearly good to go. As for Serena, her injury was much worse."

"She'll survive, right?" Ash said.

Nurse Joy hesitated. "I can't guarantee it." Then she left without another word. It seemed like she was a bit troubled by this.

Ash lay his head back down on his pillow and stared at the ceiling. Not only had he just woken up in a hospital with no memory of how he'd gotten there, but now he also had to accept that one of his best friends might die.

Nurse Joy's head peeked through the curtain again. "Mr. Ketchum, you've got visitors," she said.

"Send them in," Ash replied. He wanted to distract himself in any way possible.

Leaf entered through the curtain, and following her was the girl whose bike he'd taken.

"Hey, Ash," Leaf said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Ash answered. "So you brought me here?"

"Yeah, Misty and I brought you and Serena here." Ash decided that the other girl must be Misty.

Ash couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration toward Leaf for saving his life. "What happened?" he said. "I don't remember anything. And what happened to you, Leaf?"

"I didn't see it myself, but it looks like you took all the Spearow attacks," Leaf explained, "and you probably saved Serena and Pikachu's lives. As for myself, I made it to the shore and ran straight for Viridian City. On the way, I ran into Misty. I asked if she had seen you, and she told me you had, uh, stolen her bike. We soon found you all lying in a heap on the path and we brought you here."

"You completely destroyed my bike," Misty added. "And you're going to replace it."

That was all she cared about, Ash thought. He wanted to strangle her. Serena could be dying right now and all Misty cared about was her bike. But he decided it was better to keep his mouth shut. These two had just saved his life. That reminded him – he hadn't properly thanked them yet

"Thanks," he said plainly, not finding any better words. "You two saved my life."

"Anyone would have done the same," Leaf replied. "We couldn't just leave you."

"Ash," Nurse Joy said as she poked her head through the curtain once again. "Your Pikachu is fully healed."

"That's great!" Ash responded. "Could you bring it here, please?"

"Absolutely," the nurse said with a smile. "One moment, please."

After just a few seconds, Pikachu's head poked in from beneath the curtain. "Pika?" it said. Upon seeing Ash, its eyes lit up. It jumped onto him. "Chuu!" it cried joyfully.

"Ow!" Ash yelled. "Pikachu, I'm still a bit sore. Go easy on me, buddy."

Nurse Joy's voice came from the other side of the curtain. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Everything's good," Ash called back. Turning to Pikachu, he added, "And you're all better now! That's great, buddy!" He wrapped it in his sore arms.

"Chu!" it replied.

"Ash, you really seem to have earned Pikachu's trust," Leaf commented.

"That's right," Ash said. "It's like I said before. Pikachu and I will make a great team!"

Nurse Joy came into the room. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are just ending," she said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Okay," Leaf said. "Ash, I'll see you later."

"Don't die – you still need to replace my bike," Misty told him, but Ash caught a trace of a good-natured smile on her face.

"Pikachu, stay with Leaf," Ash said. "I'll be out as soon as possible."

"Pika!" the Pokémon replied.

* * *

It seemed like Ash had been waiting for years. Finally, Nurse Joy came in again. She inspected his body, looking closely at the places where his most severe wounds had been, particularly one in the middle of his chest that had been bothering him a lot. Finally, she stood back up and looked at him.

"Ash, you're ready to go," she told him.

Ash stood up immediately. His legs were a bit shaky at first from not having been used for a while, and he had to put his hand on the bed to stabilize himself. Still, he couldn't help but smile. Freedom at last! With a quick "thank you" to Nurse Joy, he left to find Leaf and Misty.

Over the Pokémon Center, a Meowth-shaped hot air balloon hovered ominously.

* * *

"Hey, guys! I'm free! They let me go!" Ash called as he found Leaf and Misty in the lobby of the Pokémon Center. They turned to face him, and he expected them to be glad that he was all better, but their faces didn't show any happiness.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked.

"It's Serena," Leaf almost whispered.

"She's not doing so well," Misty added.

Ash's heart felt like it stopped. Please, let this be another nightmare, he thought. He had had plenty of those during his time there.

"Where is she?" he said.

"They've got her in that room there," Leaf said, pointing. "But they aren't letting any visitors in."

"I have to see her," Ash said. He walked straight to the door and pulled it open. He passed Nurse Joy as he went in.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I have to see Serena," he responded firmly.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I know you're worried, but we can't let anyone in right now."

"I have to see her," he repeated. He went forward and pulled open the curtains to reveal Serena, still unconscious in her bed. Seeing that there was no point arguing with Ash, Nurse Joy came to stand beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. A heart rate monitor beeped beside the bed.

Beep... beep... beep...

"Serena..." Ash whispered.

"I'm sorry," Nurse Joy said. "I'm not sure how much can be done. The situation is severe. She suffered a lot of skull damage and she breathed in a lot of water."

Beep... beep... beep...

"You can save her, right?" Ash said desperately. "You can't just let her die!" He felt tears coming to his eyes.

"I... I don't know," the nurse admitted.

Beep... beep... beep...

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Ash was almost yelling now. He let the tears stream down his face.

"Her state has only been worsening since her arrival," Nurse Joy explained.

Beep... beep... beeeeeeeeeeep...

The heart monitor displayed a flat line.

"No!" Ash screamed, leaning over the bed, his tears falling onto her lifeless body. "No! Serena... You can't..."

Hearing all the commotion, Leaf and Misty entered the room. Pikachu followed tentatively. Upon seeing the situation, Leaf immediately burst into tears as well, and ran to stand beside Ash, looking over Serena's body. Misty walked up to join them, and she couldn't help but shed some tears as well. Pikachu followed last. Nurse Joy backed up to give them some space to grieve over their lost friend.

There they stood, side by side, leaning over Serena's body, their tears dripping onto her. In that moment, they could've sworn they saw a light glow in her heart.

Beep... beep... beep... The heart monitor started again. Suddenly, Serena's eyes blinked open and she sat up. She was instantly wrapped in everyone's arms with various cries of "Oh my god!" and "You're alive!"

Nurse Joy, at her computer, let out a gasp. "Oh, my!" she said. "This is truly a miracle! Serena's health is... well, perfect! I don't know how this could have happened!"

"That's great!" Leaf exclaimed. "How are you feeling, Serena?"

"I'm fine," Serena replied. "Uh, what happened?"

"Well... it's a long story," Ash said.

* * *

In the lobby, Ash, Leaf, Misty and Nurse Joy had finally finished telling the whole story to Serena.

"Wow," she said. "So I guess I have to thank every one of you for saving my life. If any one of you hadn't saved me, I probably wouldn't be alive... But..."

She buried her face in her hands as tears came to her eyes. "It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. If I hadn't refused to follow you, none of this would have happened."

"Serena," Ash said as he came to sit down next to her and put his hand on her back. "This is in no way your fault. You were scared, understandably. Besides, if I hadn't recklessly attacked that Spearow, you would never have had to make that decision in the first place. I guess I was too excited about becoming a Pokémon Trainer and I forgot to be careful. Maybe I'm not ready to be a Pokémon Trainer yet." He thought about this for a moment. He'd thought he was mature enough, but on his first day this had happened. Still, his mother had also strongly encouraged him to go on a journey this year. Had she misjudged him, too?

"Ash, don't say that," Leaf said. "It was an innocent mistake. You aren't to blame at all either. It was just an unlucky situation."

"Pika pika!" Pikachu added from his shoulder.

Ash stared down. Was that all it was? Bad luck? Come to think of it, he hadn't known he was attacking a Spearow. He hadn't seen it, so how could he have known? Maybe it wasn't his fault, after all. But that thought didn't comfort him much.

"I never thought being a Pokémon Trainer would be this dangerous," he muttered, mostly to himself. "At this rate, we'll all be dead by the end of the week."

"Ash," Serena said. "You can't let yourself think like that. It's not like you. The Ash I know would say, 'It can only get better from here'. We can keep going and everything will be all right. I'll make sure of that. We all will. I know it."

Ash started to give a small smile but a TV on the wall caught his attention. It was showing a live broadcast in Viridian City where a police officer named Officer Jenny was speaking.

"An aircraft belonging to a group of Pokémon thieves has been spotted above Viridian City. Everyone should be wary of any suspicious looking strangers and if you see anything, report it to the police immediately. It is possible that these Pokémon thieves are connected with the terrorist organization known as Team Rocket."

This had caught everyone's attention now. Team Rocket was a well-known group in the Kanto region. They were power-hungry and wanted to take control of all of the strongest Pokémon in the world, and ultimately take over the world. Ash immediately put a hand on Pikachu, just to be safe.

As if on cue, a huge bang came from the Pokémon Center's roof. Everyone immediately turned to where the sound had come from. There was another bang and the ceiling broke open. A man and a woman in their 20s, wearing white uniforms with red R's on them, jumped down, along with a Pokémon. The man had purple hair that reached almost to his shoulders. The woman's long red hair reached all the way down her back and looked like it was styled with a lot of gel.

"Step aside," the man told them.

"We're here to take all of the Pokémon," the woman added.

"With this many Pokémon, there's gotta be something good," Meowth added, looking hungrily at a shelf containing hundreds of Poké Balls.

A few gasps came from the group. "That Meowth can talk?" Misty said in shock.

"Who are you?" Leaf said, although they all already knew the answer.

"We're Team Rocket," the man said.

"I'm Jessie," the woman stated.

And I'm James," the man said.

"And I'm Meowth!" the Meowth finished, as they all struck a pose.

"We're here for your Pokémon, as we already said," James told them.

"You're not getting Pikachu!" Ash yelled defiantly.

"Oh, please," the woman waved her hand dismissively. "We don't have time for your precious electric rat. We want strong Pokémon." Pikachu shot her a glare. How dare she insult it?

The Team Rocket duo each tossed their Poké Balls. "Go, Koffing!" James yelled.

"Ekans, come out!" Jessie cried.

Ash didn't have time to scan them with his Pokédex before James commanded his Koffing: "Use Smokescreen!"

A dark smoke came from Koffing's body and filled the room. Some people began coughing.

"Follow me, quickly!" Nurse Joy said to the others. She led them down a hallway into a room full of Poké Balls. Suddenly, the lights went out.

"They've cut the power," Nurse Joy said. "Fortunately, we have our own power source!"

A bright light shone from the corner of the room. After the group's eyes had adjusted to the brightness, they saw at least ten Pikachu running on a treadmill-like machine. "Pika pika chu chu!" they chanted energetically. The lights everywhere in the Pokémon Center flickered back on. The computer in the room turned on, too.

"Wow!" Ash exclaimed. But this was no time to admire the Pikachu power source. Nurse Joy sat at her computer and began speaking into a microphone while typing frantically.

"This is the Viridian City Pokémon Center," she said. "We have an emergency. Ready to send Poké Balls."

"This is the Pewter City Pokémon Center," an identical voice responded. "Ready to receive Poké Balls."

Nurse Joy began putting all the Poké Balls into a machine. They disappeared as they were transferred away.

Suddenly the door broke down, and the silhouettes of Jessie, James, Meowth, Koffing and Ekans could be seen through the smoke that billowed into the room.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Ash commanded. With a cry of "Pikachuuu!" it sent a bolt of electricity at the evil team, knocking them back a bit. Ash then ran into the hallway, trying to distract them while Nurse Joy transferred the Poké Balls. Leaf and Serena sent out their Pokémon to guard the door. The Pokémon exchanged attacks as Ash led them out into the lobby.

"Pikachu, use one more Thundershock on Ekans and Koffing!" Ash yelled.

"Pikachuuu!" Pikachu yelled as it put all its strength into the attack. Ekans and Koffing were knocked out by the attack.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Meowth said. "Fury Swipes!"

Meowth extended its claws and rapidly slashed them across Pikachu. The mouse Pokémon was knocked onto its back by the attack. "Pika..." it said.

"No! Pikachu!" Ash cried.

It was then that all the other Pikachu from the generator poured into the room. They must have sensed that Pikachu was in danger. They crowded around Ash's Pikachu and helped it up.

"Pika pika," it said with a smile. All of the Pikachu's cheeks began to spark.

"Pikachuuu!" they all screamed in unison, letting out a massive bolt of electricity that hit Team Rocket head on. There was a huge explosion that blasted them up into the sky and out of sight.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash congratulated his Pokémon. It looked at him with a smile.

"Pikachu!" it said.

The others were just entering what was left of the lobby. "I guess it was Pikachu's turn to save us," Leaf commented.

"Sorry about the damage to the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy," Ash said, looking at the broken, smoking walls.

"No need to apologize, Ash," the nurse replied. "I should thank you for saving all of the Pokémon Center's Pokémon. We'll get the building fixed in no time. By the way, Ash, you said you're a new Trainer, right? You've just started your journey. What is your goal?"

"Oh, I was thinking I'd like to participate in the Pokémon League," Ash said. "I've just heard so many great things about it, and my dad actually won it once. But what about you guys?" he asked curiously, turning to Leaf and Serena.

"Well, I think it would be amazing to be a Gym Leader," Leaf said. "After all, they're some of the best trainers around, hand picked by the Pokémon League staff. I'm thinking I might go for that."

"That sounds tough," Ash commented. "What about you, Serena?"

"Me? Oh, um..." Serena hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping I'll find something, but in the meantime, I just want to become the best Trainer I can be."

"That's fine," Ash said. "We just started, anyway. By the way, Nurse Joy, could you tell me how to get to the Viridian City Gym? I'd like to challenge it before we leave."

"Oh, the Gym Leader is out of town right now," she responded. "He won't be back for a few weeks."

"Oh, okay," Ash said, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed. "I'll have to come back another time." He would have to return if he wanted to challenge the Pokémon League. He had to get a badge from each of the eight Gyms in the Kanto region to be eligible to compete.

"It's getting late," Nurse Joy added. "Why don't you rest here overnight?"

"Oh, all right," Ash decided. He really wanted to keep moving as soon as possible, but he didn't want his recklessness getting him and his friends in trouble again.

* * *

 **Well, that's it. I hope it was good, or at least not terrible. I'll see you guys again maybe tomorrow with Chapter 4!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter 4. Wow, this is going really fast. As I mentioned before, after this chapter updates probably won't be as often. And Team Rocket seems pretty innocent so far, but I have big plans for them in the future.**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokémon, unfortunately.**

* * *

CHAPTER IV

Ash, Leaf and Serena now stood at the entrance to Viridian Forest. Nurse Joy had told them it was the quickest way to Pewter City, the location of the nearest Pokémon Gym. The girl known as Misty had insisted on following them to ensure they would find a replacement for her bike. However, she seemed to be lagging behind a bit.

"Hey, uh, guys?" she said nervously. "Do you think we could go around the other way?"

"What? Why?" Ash exclaimed.

"Nurse Joy told us that route will take another week at least," Leaf added.

"Well... That way I won't have to deal with bugs," Misty replied.

"Bugs?" Ash questioned. "You're that afraid of bugs?"

"Ugh! They're one of the three most disgusting things on the planet, along with carrots and peppers!" she cried.

"You know, you don't have to follow us," Serena pointed out. "You can just go your own way."

Misty shook her head. "No! I'm following you until you replace my bike!"

"Why don't we just run ahead? Maybe we can lose her," Ash suggested to Leaf and Serena. With that, he dashed off down the trail.

"Ash, wait!" Leaf cried as she and Serena chased after him.

Misty put her hand on her face. She couldn't believe how stubborn this kid was. Still, it wasn't long before she followed them, too.

* * *

A small green Pokémon sauntered out onto the trail in front of Ash, causing him to stop suddenly to avoid tripping on it. It had a body like a caterpillar, with a large red head ornament like an antenna. Ash immediately brought out his Pokédex to scan it as Leaf and Serena caught up to him, panting.

"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon," it said mechanically. "The suction pads on its feet allow it to climb trees and walls with ease. The antenna on its head can produce a horrible stench."

"So that's a wild Caterpie," Ash said to himself. "Well, not for long, because I'm going to catch it!" He turned his hat backward as he pulled out a Poké Ball. Forgetting that he was supposed to battle it first, he threw the Poké Ball. "Caterpie, you're mine!"

The surprised Caterpie disappeared inside the Poké Ball with a flash of light. It fell onto the ground and began to wobble back and forth. It did this for quite a while, and Ash stared at it intensely, just waiting. He realized now that because he hadn't battled it, there was a chance it would break free. Still, there was a chance.

Ding! The Poké Ball finally stopped moving. Ash picked it up and held it up in a victory pose. "I caught a Caterpie!" he yelled.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu added.

"Will you get that thing away from me?!" Suddenly, Ash realized he was holding the Poké Ball up right in the face of Misty, who had just arrived.

"Oh, so you decided to come after all," Ash said, lowering the Poké Ball.

"Please just put it away!" Misty said.

"Oh, come on, Misty," Ash replied. "It's just a Caterpie, and I actually think it's cute. Besides, it's in its Poké Ball right now. Which reminds me, we haven't properly met Caterpie yet."

Misty looked horrified. "You don't mean —"

"Come out, Caterpie!" Ash said as he tossed the Poké Ball up in the air.

"Nooo!" Misty screamed.

Caterpie appeared in a flash of light. Ash crouched down to speak to it.

"Hey, Caterpie," he said gently. "Welcome to the team."

Caterpie gave Ash a smile and was about to rub its head up against him when something caught its attention. It turned and looked directly at Misty, who was keeping her distance. Caterpie dashed toward her much faster than it looked like it would be able to. Before she was able to react, it was nuzzling her leg, looking very contented. Misty, however, did not.

"Oh, I think Caterpie likes you," Serena commented.

"Get this disgusting thing off me!" she screamed. "Ohh, it's so gross! Why is it touching me?"

Hearing these words, Caterpie looked very hurt. It backed off as tears formed in its eyes. It crawled over to its Poké Ball, pressed on the button, and disappeared inside.

"Now look what you've done, Misty," Ash scolded. "You've hurt Caterpie's feelings. I expect a sincere apology from you before we leave this forest."

Misty crossed her arms and turned her head away from him, though she couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"I think we should get moving," Leaf suggested, hoping to change the subject. "We should go as far as we can before sundown."

"That's a great idea, Leaf," Ash replied. "Let's get moving!"

* * *

"Ugh! I can't believe that brat and his Pikachu completely screwed up our plan!" Jessie yelled in disgust.

"How are we going to explain this to the boss?" James added.

"I say we go find them and teach them a lesson!" Jessie said.

Meowth peered over the hot air balloon's edge into the Viridian Forest below. "Speaking of those twerps, they're right there."

Jessie and James came to look over the edge with Meowth. As Meowth had said, Ash, Pikachu, Leaf, Serena and Misty were making their way through the forest beneath them.

"Excellent," James said. "Let's waste no time. They only got lucky at the Pokémon Center. They won't stand a chance this time."

* * *

The sun was starting to get low on the horizon as the group was still making their way through the forest. Of course, they were getting hungry, but none of them had brought food. That was possibly the biggest reason why they wanted to get to Pewter City as soon as possible.

"You know, Misty, we're getting closer to the city now," Ash pointed out. "Are you ready to apologize to Caterpie?"

"What? I never agreed to that!" Misty protested.

Ash took off his bag and set it on the ground. "I'm not going any farther until I get an apology from you," he said stubbornly. He pulled out Caterpie's Poké Ball and released it. Misty screamed upon seeing it, and Caterpie lowered its head in shame as tears came to its eyes once more.

"Come on, Misty," Ash said. "Are you really going to be like that?"

Misty's expression softened a little when she saw Caterpie's expression. She couldn't forget that it was a living being with feelings, too. She took a deep breath. "All right," she said. "Caterpie, I'm sorry for how I treated you. You're not that bad after all."

Caterpie looked up hopefully at Misty. It slowly came closer to her. Misty fought back the urge to scream and run away. Caterpie started rubbing up against her legs and she tensed up and had to force herself to tolerate it.

Ash nodded his head in approval. "Not bad," he said. "You could've done better, but I'll accept it." He returned Caterpie to its Poké Ball and Misty breathed a sigh of relief.

"Umm, guys? It's actually starting to get dark here," Leaf said.

"It looks like we might have to spend the night here," Serena added.

"Well, we're on a journey and we'll be going all over the country, so we'll have to get used to sleeping outside," Ash reminded them, though he was really starving.

"Oh, all right," Leaf agreed. "We might as well set up camp here. This spot is as good as any."

Ash reached into his bag and pulled out his sleeping bag, and the others did the same. The sun seemed to be quickly getting lower. As Leaf was laying out her green sleeping bag, a rustle in the bushes caught her eye.

"Hey, guys, I'm just going to check something out," she told the others. She walked over to where she had seen the movement and looked through the trees. A bird-like Pokémon was walking around on the ground. It was unmistakably a Spearow. Leaf grimaced as she remembered the trouble that had resulted from their last encounter with a Spearow. She would have to be extra careful around this one. Still, she hadn't caught a Pokémon yet, and this was her first chance.

"Go, Bulbasaur!" She tossed the Poké Ball and the Pokémon appeared in front of her. This startled the Spearow, which jumped up and fluttered its wings before turning to face Bulbasaur and putting a firm expression on its face.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Leaf commanded.

"Bulbasaur!" it said as it shot two vines out of the bulb on its back. They struck the Spearow dead on and it stumbled back a few steps. It then flapped its wings and flew straight at Bulbasaur with a Peck attack.

"Look out!" Leaf cried. Bulbasaur jumped to its left but the Peck attack grazed its side. It grimaced in pain but still stood steadily.

"Let's go, Bulbasaur! Give it a Tackle attack!" Leaf ordered. Bulbasaur rammed into the Spearow, knocking it into a nearby tree. The Spearow tried to stand, but its legs were shaky. Still, it tried to appear confident. Suddenly it cried out in pain as its legs gave out beneath it. It now lay helplessly on the ground.

"Poké Ball, go!" Leaf yelled as she tossed an empty Ball at the Spearow. It disappeared inside with a flash of light and the Poké Ball fell to the ground. It shook for a moment but quickly stopped with a "ding".

Leaf grinned. "Great job, Bulbasaur! That was your first time battling, and you pulled it off really well!"

"Bulba!" it said with a large smile. Leaf then returned it to its Poké Ball. She ran over to where the others were just settling into their sleeping bags.

"Hey, everyone! There's someone I'd like you to meet!" Without waiting for a reply, she brought out Spearow. It appeared with a burst of light.

"Spearoww!" it cried.

Ash jumped a little. "A Spearow?" he said nervously. He couldn't look at it without thinking about their first day.

Leaf laughed a little. "Don't worry, Ash. I'll keep it under control."

Ash relaxed a bit. "Okay, Leaf. I trust you."

Suddenly Spearow collapsed to the ground. It let out a weak cry as it struggled to get back up.

"Oh, no! I forgot that Spearow got hurt in the battle!" Leaf said.

"Don't worry about it, Leaf," said Misty. "I picked up a few Potions while we were in Viridian City. I'll get it fixed up in no time."

Leaf breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. Although Misty's temper could be frustrating at times, she was glad they had someone with a bit more experience in the group. "Thank you, Misty," she said.

"Hey, I got an idea," Ash said. "Why don't we send out all our Pokémon for the night so they can get acquainted?"

"That's a great idea, Ash," said Leaf. "Come on out!" She released Bulbasaur and Spearow from their Poké Balls.

"Definitely!" Serena added, sending out her Charmander, which quickly shot its Ember attack into her face in its excitement. Serena fell onto her backside.

"Charmander, do you have to always do that?" she groaned.

"Charmander!" the Pokémon replied happily, seemingly unaware that it had caused any trouble.

"All right!" Ash said. He brought out Caterpie from its Poké Ball, and let Pikachu down from his shoulder.

"What about you, Misty?" Serena asked, noticing she hadn't sent out her Pokémon.

"Me? Oh, my Pokémon are water types, and they don't do too well on land. I'll have to wait for another time," she replied.

Meanwhile, Spearow had its eye on Caterpie. It was watching its every movement closely. This didn't go unnoticed by the caterpillar Pokémon, and it ran to hide behind a tree trunk. Spearow didn't take its eye off Caterpie. Suddenly it took flight and flew straight at Caterpie, whose eyes were wide with terror.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu ran in front of Spearow and took the attack directly. Spearow gave a surprised look at it, and Pikachu stood up quickly to face Spearow. "Pika pika, Pikachu!" it said. It had to convince Spearow that Caterpie couldn't be its prey.

Leaf had noticed what was going on. "Spearow, if you don't leave Caterpie alone, I'm going to have to keep you in your Poké Ball overnight," she told it.

Spearow hung its head in shame. In truth, it hadn't intended to hurt anyone. It just wanted to show off its fierceness and strength. Now it seemed it had all backfired. Everyone was angry at it. A single tear formed in its eye.

"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked, noticing this. It walked up to Spearow to ask it what was wrong.

"Spearow!" Spearow turned away. It was an independent Pokémon, and it didn't want anyone's pity.

Suddenly an Ember attack grazed the top of Spearow's head. It looked over to see Charmander laughing gleefully, while Bulbasaur was trying to restrain it with its vines.

Serena shook her head at the scene. They would have to work hard to get these Pokémon under control. She then looked over and noticed that everyone else was lying in their sleeping bags. Misty was already asleep, actually. She decided to lay her head down and do the same. Her gaze scanned the stars above her. Her thoughts wandered back to Nurse Joy's question. What did she want to achieve from this journey? What goal would she try to reach? She lay there thinking about this for quite a while. She let the cool breeze blow over her face, and listened to the faint cries of nearby Pokémon among the leaves rustling in the wind. Finally, unable to sleep, she got up to take a walk. She walked through the trees, just admiring the area. It was really calming. She found a nice log to sit on, but then she noticed someone was already sitting there.

"Leaf?" she said.

Leaf turned her head to look at her. "Oh, hey, Serena," she said. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"I guess not," Serena replied. "It's just... So much has happened over the last few days. There's so much to think about."

Leaf nodded her head. "I know what you mean."

"I was thinking about what Nurse Joy said," Serena continued. "You and Ash both have a goal for your journeys, and Misty probably does as well. Meanwhile, I still have no clue what I want to do."

"Don't worry about it," Leaf told her. "We've just started. Something will come to you. The truth is, I don't really have a goal either. I mean, yeah, it would be cool to be a Gym Leader, but that's not really what I'm working towards. I just wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer, and go on a journey, and that's enough for me. Besides, when I heard Ash was going, well, I just..."

Serena studied her face to try to see what she was thinking. Though it was really dark, she could've sworn Leaf was blushing.

"You like him, as... you know... more than a friend, don't you?" Serena said.

Leaf hesitated. "Yeah," she admitted. "Is that okay?"

"What do you mean?" Serena questioned.

"Well, I was worried that you might like him, too," Leaf explained.

"Oh, no, he's all yours," Serena laughed.

"Heh, thanks," Leaf replied.

Then they heard what sounded like a voice coming from the bushes behind them. The two girls exchanged a glance before moving closer to the sound. As they peeked through the branches, they could clearly see that it was none other than Jessie, James and Meowth of Team Rocket.

"...and we'll take them by surprise," Jessie was saying. "They won't know what hit them."

"I'll go in from that side," James added. "And you'll take the other side." Leaf and Serena opened their eyes wide when they realized he was pointing toward where the others were sleeping.

Leaf began to step forward toward the Team Rocket members.

"Leaf!" Serena whispered, but Leaf didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" Leaf said loudly. The Team Rocket members jumped.

"You weren't supposed to hear that!" Jessie exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter," James decided. "We'll battle you right here, right now! Koffing, go!"

"Koffing!" the Pokémon said as it appeared from its Poké Ball.

"Right. Ekans, go!" Jessie said next.

"Ekansss!" it hissed.

When Serena saw what was happening, she stepped forward to stand beside Leaf. Both girls reached for their Poké Balls, but their eyes widened in fear when they realized their Pokémon were still sleeping with the others.

"No Pokémon, huh?" James smirked.

"That just makes it easier for us," Jessie added. "Ekans, use..."

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" a voice cried out.

"Chuuu!" A bolt of electricity shocked Koffing and Ekans before Jessie was able to finish her command. Leaf and Serena turned to see Ash and Pikachu running to join them.

"Koffing, use Sludge!" James cried.

"Koffing!" it said as it shot a glob of sludge from its mouth. It hit Pikachu right in the face. Pikachu had to take a few steps backward to keep its balance, but the Sludge stuck on its face and covered its eyes.

"Ekans, Bite!" Jessie yelled. The Pokémon slithered forward and bit Pikachu's side.

"Pikaa!" it cried out in pain.

"Pikachu, come back. You can't battle like this," Ash told it. "Caterpie, go!"

Caterpie appeared in a flash of light and stood tall, but upon seeing what it was up against, it shrunk back and gave a frightened look to Ash.

"Don't worry, I know you can do this, Caterpie," he reassured it. Caterpie nodded and turned to face its enemies.

"Use String Shot!" Ash commanded. A sticky white substance shot from Caterpie's mouth and enveloped Ekans's head and Koffing's entire body. Koffing fell to the ground, immobilized, while Ekans began bang its head on the ground to try and get the String Shot off of it.

"Nice work, Caterpie!" Ash praised it while the Team Rocket members got disgusted looks on their faces.

"Ash! Leaf! Serena!" It was the voice of Misty this time. She ran over to help them.

"Hey, Misty," Ash said. "Do you have any idea how to get this sludge off Pikachu?" He gestured to the Pokémon, who was still trying to wipe it off.

"No problem," Misty replied. "Staryu, come out!" A star-shaped Pokémon appeared from the Poké Ball. The others were interested to see it, because it was the first time any of them had seen one of Misty's Pokémon.

"Staryu, use Water Gun on Pikachu!" Misty ordered. A blast of water came from the top point of Staryu's body and struck Pikachu's face. When the water stopped, the Sludge was gone from its face. Pikachu blinked its eyes open in surprise.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Misty. Now we can take care of these idiots," Ash said. "Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pikachuuu!" The Team Rocket members were shocked by Pikachu's attack once more. This time, it blasted them up into the sky and out of sight.

"Well done, everyone!" Ash praised the Pokémon. Suddenly he noticed Caterpie had started to glow white. "Uh, what's going on with Caterpie?"

A hard shell formed around Caterpie's body. When it stopped glowing, its entire body was coated in a dark green shell except for its eyes.

"Wow, Ash, your Caterpie evolved into Metapod," Serena commented.

"Hey, Caterpie – or, I mean, Metapod, that's so cool!" Ash exclaimed. Metapod wiggled a little in response.

"Um, I hate to interrupt your celebration, but could we get a little more sleep?" Misty requested.

"That's a good idea," Ash replied.

Without another word, they all went to bed.

* * *

 **So, how was it? I'm anxious to know what you all think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, everyone! Wow, this chapter took a lot longer than I expected. I'm sorry about that. But it's finally here: the Pewter Gym battle!**

 **Anyway, I'm happy to say that I've had enough people reading the story (in my opinion) to justify seeing it through to the end. I plan to continue the story to the end of Kanto at least. Hopefully I'll continue to Johto and beyond after that, but if not, I have a big ending planned out which will happen then. Again, thanks to everyone for reading!**

 **And of course, I don't own Pokémon… Not yet, at least.**

* * *

CHAPTER V

A man sat in his chair, turned away from the entrance to the dimly lit room. A Pokémon lay curled up next to him, a Persian. The man awaited the arrival of good news from his faithful servants. Their success would be a good first step toward regaining the power he had lost only a few years ago.

A knock came from the doorway. "Who is it?" the man said calmly in a cold voice.

"Jessie and James, and Meowth, sir," came the response.

The corners of the man's mouth curled into what was almost a smile. "Excellent," he said. "Enter."

The doors opened and the man, still turned away from them, heard three sets of footsteps enter the room. "I trust you've brought me good news?" he said.

An unnerving silence filled the room, until the man known as James spoke up. "Not exactly, sir," he said.

The man's expression turned to a scowl. "What happened?"

"Well you see, it was a kid and his Pikachu," James explained. "He and his friends, um, they got in the way."

"You were defeated by some kids?" the man snapped.

"Yes, sir," James confirmed. "Twice."

"Pathetic!" the man yelled. "You are absolutely pathetic." He took a deep breath to calm himself a bit. "Have you identified the boy?"

"We did a bit of eavesdropping, sir," Jessie said. "The boy's name is Ash Ketchum."

"Ketchum, did you say?" the man said, his voice bearing the slightest hint of shock.

"Yes, sir," Jessie replied.

"Target the boy. Eliminate him by force if you must. Do not fail me," the man ordered. "Target anyone by the name of Ketchum."

* * *

"Ash, will you get up? If you don't, we might just all just go to Pewter City without you and get some food."

Ash sat bolt upright. "Food? Where?" he said.

Leaf laughed. "I thought that might get you up. Come on. Let's get moving."

Ash packed up his sleeping bag; he was the last one to do so. He returned Metapod, who had spent the night outside with the other Pokémon, to its Poké Ball. Finally, after packing everything into his bag, he nodded to the others. "Let's go."

The group made their way through the Viridian Forest, though they only had a vague idea of which direction they were going. The morning air was fresh and cool, and the sky was nearly cloudless. The path they followed had thick grass and bushes growing on either side; they had to hope they were going the right way, since it would be quite difficult to go through the bushes.

"Does anyone have any idea how much farther it is?" Serena asked after a while.

"I've always avoided the forest before, you know, with the bugs and all that," Misty said, "so I haven't got that good of an idea how far it is. Nurse Joy told us it would take just over a day, though."

"I suppose it was kind of dumb of us not to bring any food," Leaf sighed.

"We'll be there soon, I know it," Ash said, trying to be positive.

The path twisted and turned until it led Ash, Leaf, Serena and Misty up to the summit of a high hill. Panting, Ash arrived first at the top, and instantly he bent down to catch his breath. The others arrived shortly after him.

"Look!" Misty said, pointing.

Ash looked up and saw what she was looking at. At the foot of the hill, on the other side, was a sprawling collection of houses and buildings.

"Pewter City," he muttered in awe. "That's where the food is."

"Come on! Let's go!" Leaf said, starting down the path. The others followed, eager to have some food.

* * *

As the four Pokémon Trainers were just about to enter the city, smiles appeared on their faces. A pile of rocks lay on the side of the path, and Ash climbed up onto it to get a better view over the rooftops. Some of the rocks were a little unstable, but Ash managed to make it to the top with only a couple of small slips.

"Hey guys!" he called to the others. "It looks like there's a restaurant just a couple blocks that way!" He raised himself onto his toes to get a better look, and as he did so, the rock on which his right foot was planted slipped. He tumbled down the pile of rocks, knocking lots of others loose on the way down and landing in a heap at the bottom.

"Ash! Are you okay?" Leaf said in concern.

Ash winced a bit. "I'm fine, only bruised." He stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants.

"What are you doing? That's my merchandise!" an unfamiliar voice said. Ash looked up to see a man standing on the path. He had a dark, bushy beard and a red hat that cast a shadow over his eyes.

"Your… merchandise?" Ash asked in confusion.

The man nodded, and simply said, "I sell rocks."

"You sell rocks? Who in their right mind would pay to buy a rock?" Serena questioned.

"Oh, no one buys them," the man said. "But since they're my merchandise, I can charge people for resting on them, or touching them, or anything. By the way, that'll be a five dollar charge for disturbing my rocks."

"What!?" Ash cried angrily. "Who do you think you are?"

The man chuckled. "The name's Flint. What about you?"

"I'm Ash, and this is Leaf, Serena, Misty and Pikachu," Ash told him. "I'm working on becoming a Pokémon Master."

"Pokémon Master, huh?" Flint said in an amused tone. "Well, your Pikachu looks a bit worn out for that. Here, I'll show you the way to the Pokémon Center."

"Great! Thanks, Flint!" Ash said.

"But first…" Flint added, "hand over those five dollars."

* * *

"Please heal my Pokémon," Ash said to the lady behind the counter, who had bent down to get something. "It's a bit tired out right now."

"Of course," she replied, coming back up to look at him. She looked awfully familiar…

"Nurse Joy?" Ash said in confusion. "Weren't you just in Viridian City?"

The nurse laughed. "Oh, we get that all the time. There's actually a Nurse Joy in almost every town and city, and we're all related, and we all look identical. It's an odd gene that runs in our family."

"Oh, all right," Ash said. "Well, in any case, could you heal up my Pikachu and Metapod? I'm going to try to challenge the Gym Leader here."

"Don't tell me you think you can beat Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader!" That was Flint's voice.

"I've got to beat all the Gym Leaders to enter the Pokémon League," Ash replied. "It's worth a shot, at least, isn't it?"

Flint simply laughed and walked away.

"So Flint doesn't think I can beat the Gym Leader," Ash muttered mostly to himself. "I'll show him. I'll beat Brock."

"Ash, your Pokémon are healed up." That was Nurse Joy. She was carrying a single Poké Ball in her hand – Caterpie's. Pikachu ran along next to her.

"Pika!" it said.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash said. "Pikachu, we're going to challenge Brock, the local Gym Leader. Are you up for it?"

"Chu!" it replied confidently.

"All right! Let's go win that badge!" Ash's stomach growled loudly and he added, "But first – lunch!"

* * *

After rapidly devouring their food, Serena, Leaf and Misty all followed Ash to the Pewter Gym. Ash was silent; he wanted to be focused for the battle. The group turned a corner and came face to face with a large building made mostly of stone. Carved into the stone at the top left of the building were the words "PEWTER GYM".

"So this is the Pewter Gym," Ash said. His heart was pounding as he pushed open the double doors.

The inside of the building was dark. It was impossible to see anything. "Hello?" Ash called. He and Pikachu entered the building while the others waited in the doorway. It looked like it was just a large, empty room.

"Who goes there?"

A light flickered on and illuminated the figure of a teen sitting cross-legged on an elevated platform at the back of the room. His narrow eyes and spiky hair made him look a bit intimidating.

Ash turned to face him. "You must be Brock, the Gym Leader," he said. "I'm Ash from Pallet Town. I challenge you to a battle!"

"Pallet Town, huh?" Brock said. "Let me guess. You've just started your journey and you're trying for your first badge.'

"Uh, yeah, that's right," Ash responded. "How did you know?"

"I've been the Gym Leader here for a while," Brock explained. "It's usually around this time of year that the new Trainers from Pallet Town come to challenge me. Most of them fail and come back months later for a rematch. You're probably a weak Trainer like them. How long have you been with that Pikachu?"

"Uhh, a couple weeks, maybe?" Ash replied. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I was in the hospital for a while and kind of lost track of time."

"In the hospital?" Brock shook his head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Anyway, you may be interested to know that as this is an official Gym battle, certain rules apply. It will be a two on two battle. The challenger may switch out their Pokémon, but the Gym Leader may not." He sighed. "As the Gym Leader, I have to accept all challenges. I think I can make this quick."

Suddenly, a rocky terrain began sliding mechanically into the room from both sides - the battlefield. Ash took two steps backward to make sure he was out of the way.

Brock jumped down from the platform, over the stairs and onto the floor. "Let the match begin!" he declared.

The others were now standing on a viewing platform to Ash's left to watch the match. Leaf called with her hands cupped around her mouth, "You got this, Ash!"

Ash smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up. Then he turned back to Brock. "All right! Let's do this!"

Brock pulled out a Poké Ball. "Geodude, go!" he cried.

A rock Pokémon appeared from the Poké Ball. Its entire body was made of just a head and two arms. It had an angry look on its face. "Geodude!" it said in a low voice.

"All right, I choose… Metapod!" Ash yelled, throwing the cocoon Pokémon's Poké Ball. It appeared with a flash of light and sat motionlessly on the ground, its eyes focused on Geodude.

Brock frowned. "I hope you evolved that Metapod from a Caterpie," he said. "Wild Metapod only know Harden. They're useless in battle."

"Actually, I did evolve it," Ash replied. "Metapod can battle just as well as any other Pokémon!"

Brock smirked. "We'll see about that. Geodude, use Tackle!"

"Metapod, String Shot!" Ash cried.

As the rock Pokémon charged at it, a thin stringy substance shot out from Metapod's body. It wrapped around Geodude's arms and bound them together, and the rock Pokémon stopped in its tracks.

"Way to go, Metapod! Now use Tackle!" Ash yelled.

"Shake it off," Brock ordered. Geodude strained against the String Shot and easily broke it apart. When Metapod's Tackle hit, Geodude struck back with equal force, and both Pokémon went flying in opposite directions.

Ash gritted his teeth. "Come on, Metapod! Don't give up! Try another String Shot!"

"Geodude, Tackle again!" Brock ordered.

Geodude charged right through the String Shot attack as if it didn't feel a thing. With a cry of "Geodude!" it smashed into Metapod, and the cocoon Pokémon was sent flying once more. It landed on its side on top of a large rock.

"Metapod, can you keep going?" Ash asked.

As if in response, a brilliant white light enveloped Metapod's body. Ash had to shield his eyes from the light. When it had faded, a different Pokémon was in its place. A purple Pokémon that looked like a butterfly was hovering above the rock where Metapod had crashed. "Freeee!" it cried.

"Butterfree," Ash said in awe.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen a Pokémon fully evolve," Misty commented on the viewing deck. "And Butterfree isn't half bad, for a bug Pokémon."

"Way to go, Ash!" Leaf called.

"You can still win this!" Serena added.

Ash didn't look up at them. He wanted to stay focused on the match. "We can still win this," he said. "We're just getting started. Butterfree, use Confusion!"

The butterfly Pokémon's eyes began to glow blue, and it looked straight at Geodude. The rock Pokémon was enveloped in the same blue light as Butterfree's eyes, and it flew backward and crashed against a rock. It fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Haha! Good job, Butterfree!" Ash cried ecstatically. "What do you think, Brock? Not so weak now, huh?"

Brock returned Geodude to its Poké Ball. "You haven't even had a taste of my strength yet." He grabbed another Poké Ball. "Go, Onix!" he yelled as he threw it toward the field.

A massive snake-like Pokémon with a body made entirely of stone emerged from the Poké Ball, letting out a mighty roar. It was bigger than any Pokémon Ash had ever seen before.

"Butterfree, it may look intimidating, but we can still beat it! Use Confusion!" Ash yelled.

Like before, Butterfree's eyes glowed blue. The blue light enveloped Onix's body, but instead of being thrown backward, it only skidded back a foot or two.

"Onix, use Bind!" Brock commanded. The rocky Pokémon raised its long tail in the air and grabbed Butterfree with it. Onix's body coiled around the helpless Butterfree.

"Try to break free!" Ash called, but it was no use. Butterfree's physical strength was nothing compared to Onix.

"Onix, enough," Brock said. The Pokémon released its grip on Butterfree, which fell to the ground. It didn't get up.

"Butterfree, return," Ash said as he pressed the Poké Ball's button to return Butterfree with a flash of red light. "You were great," he told the Poké Ball.

"Wow, this Onix sure is much stronger than Geodude," Misty commented. "And now Ash only has Pikachu, and Onix is immune to electric attacks. Oh, I hope Ash knows that."

"I'm sure Ash has got a plan," Leaf said.

Ash looked down at Pikachu, which was waiting patiently beside him. "You ready, buddy?"

Pikachu nodded enthusiastically. "Pika!" It stepped onto the battlefield and locked eyes with Onix and gave it a fierce look, which the rock Pokémon returned.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ash yelled.

"Nope, he doesn't know," Misty groaned from the viewing platform.

"Pikachuuu!" Pikachu let out a powerful Thundershock, aimed straight at Onix. The attack bounced harmlessly off its body and ricocheted up toward the ceiling. The electricity struck a pipe running along the ceiling and ruptured it. It was the pipe for the sprinkler system. Water began to pour from the broken pipe all over the battlefield, like a rainstorm.

Misty gasped. "Hey, Ash, Rock Pokémon are weakened by water!"

Ash looked at Brock. "Is it okay to continue the match?"

Brock nodded. "We'll see it through to the end. Onix, Bind!"

The snake-like Pokémon wound its body around Pikachu just like it had with Butterfree. Pikachu struggled to get out, but the rocks that formed Onix's body had become slippery from the water.

"Pikachu, hang in there!" Ash called. "Try a Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu shut its eyes and put every ounce of its strength into the attack. The result was a massive electric charge that shocked Onix's entire body for at least ten seconds. The rock Pokémon let out a roar of pain, and by the time the attack was done, it had loosened its grip on Pikachu. The mouse Pokémon took this opportunity and pulled itself free from Onix's grip.

The Pokémon were now locked in a staredown. Both were breathing heavily and looked quite scratched up.

"Come on, Pikachu, you can do this!" Ash shouted.

"Hang in there, Onix!" Brock yelled.

Then, without warning, Onix let out a last loud roar and collapsed to the ground, where the water was forming puddles of mud.

"Onix, return," Brock said as the fainted Pokémon disappeared into its Poké Ball.

Ash picked up Pikachu in his arms. "We did it, Pikachu! We won our first Gym battle!"

The girls were cheering from the side, too. "Good job, Ash!" "You did it!" "Nice battle!"

"Ash."

Ash looked up to see Brock standing in front of him. A smile was on his face and he had his hand outstretched with something in it. It was a small shiny gray badge.

"It's the Boulder Badge," Brock explained. "And it's yours for defeating the Pewter City Gym."

Ash returned the smile. "Thanks, Brock." He started to reach out to accept the badge, but he stopped himself. He kept looking at the badge for a moment.

"I didn't earn this," he said.

"What do you mean? You beat me," Brock replied.

Ash shook his head. He looked up at the broken pipe, which was still spitting out water. "I would've lost if not for the water leakage. I don't deserve the badge yet. I'll train my Pokémon better and come back again to challenge you fair and square."

Brock hesitated. He studied Ash's face for a moment. Finally the smile returned to his face as he closed the hand that held the Boulder Badge. "I look forward to that match, Ash," he said. "For a beginning Trainer, you've really trained your Pokémon well."

* * *

 **So there you have it. I'm not really fond of the idea of Ash getting badges without winning them properly, because it just makes him seem like a weak Trainer who gets his badges from sympathy. I'll try to do something interesting with the rematch, which will be up in a few days. Thanks for reading!**

 **Also, thanks for the reviews! For the person who said they'd prefer AshxSerena over AshxLeaf: don't worry, I don't plan for AshxLeaf to become anything serious. It's not a shipping I really support, and I do intend for Ash to end up with Serena in the end.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took so long! I went to visit my grandma and didn't have much time to write. It's done now though, so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Oh, and by the way, I don't own Pokemon. That's a common misconception.**

* * *

CHAPTER VI

"Ash, your Pokémon are healed up and ready to go!"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy."

Ash took Pikachu and Butterfree's Poké Ball from the smiling nurse. He didn't smile back. Instead, a look of determination spread across his face.

"We're going to win that badge properly," he told Pikachu. "We just need some sort of strategy. There has to be some way you can get your attacks through to Brock's Pokémon."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

Ash returned to Leaf, Serena and Misty, who were sitting on a bench near the front door of the Pokémon Center.

"Can I ask you all a favor?" he asked. "I need a Pokémon to train with Pikachu, but I'm not sure Butterfree will do. Also, it would be difficult if I had to call out commands to both of them, so –"

"Of course we'll help!" Leaf said. "Right?"

Serena nodded. "Of course!"

Misty was a little more hesitant. "Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt," she decided.

Just then, the Pokémon Center's front door opened. In came a man they all recognized: Flint, the man who sold rocks. He took a few steps forward, then turned to Ash, and approached him.

"How did the match go?" he asked.

"Well…" Ash started. He explained everything about the match to Flint - how Metapod evolved into Butterfree to defeat Geodude, but didn't stand a chance against Onix; how Pikachu's attacks couldn't even scratch Onix until the pipes burst and the field became soaked in water; and finally, how he had turned down the Boulder Badge because he didn't feel like he'd earned it.

"You're a very honest boy, Ash," Flint commented once he was done. "It seems you're the kind who always wants to do the right thing. There aren't many people like that left these days… Anyway, why don't you and your friends come to my house for tea? I might be able to give you some advice. Just remember – don't disturb my rocks."

* * *

The quartet followed Flint to his house. It wasn't much of a house; it was more like a small cabin. As Flint pulled open the wooden door, it creaked slightly. He then motioned for them to all come in. There were no chairs inside, so he told them they'd have to sit on the floor. The four were mostly silent while Flint prepared the tea. After about a minute, the man sat down with them, bringing with him a filled teapot and a teacup for each of them.

"So you don't think you could have beaten Brock without the pipes bursting?" Flint asked.

Ash shook his head. "Pikachu's electric attacks can't hurt his Pokémon."

"Brock is a very strong Trainer," Flint told him.

"Yeah, I noticed," Ash said, a little more rudely than he intended. "Sorry," he added. "But why haven't I heard of him competing in the Pokémon League or anything?"

"Brock has to stay in Pewter City pretty much all the time," Flint explained. "He has ten younger brothers and sisters and he takes care of them all by himself."

"Ten of them?" Ash said in shock. "Doesn't he have a mom or a dad?"

"His good-for-nothing father left the family years ago to become a Pokémon Trainer. He hasn't been heard from since," Flint told him. "His mother had to try to hold the family together on her own, and she managed for a few years, but then" – Flint turned away, and Ash was sure his voice was shaking a little – "she passed away. Since that day, Brock has been taking care of the family on his own. Follow me," he said, standing up to leave the little house, and leaving his partially finished tea in the cup on the floor. Ash and the others got up to follow him as he went out the door.

Flint led them down the street. He didn't say where they were going. In fact, no one said anything. They were all waiting to see what it was Flint had to show them. Finally, Flint stopped them next to a bush that was on the side of the road. Past the bush was a hill that sloped down toward a wooden house that had its windows wide open.

"That's Brock's house. Duck down now, and stay quiet," Flint told them. "If we're seen, it could result in some awkward questions."

Ash, Leaf, Serena and Misty followed his lead, ducking behind the bush and peering into the house's open window. Inside, children were everywhere, all talking and performing various activities. They were pretty loud, and would certainly be a handful to take care of.

"I tore my skirt!" A little girl's distressed voice came across louder than all the others.

Another person came into view. "All right, all right. I'll sew it up for you." It was none other than Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, although his voice was very gentle, completely different from how he had been at the Gym earlier. Ash supposed that it was part of a Gym Leader's job to come across as intimidating, even if they weren't naturally like that. The group continued to watch in silence as Brock sewed the girl's skirt by hand. Often she was saying loudly, "Is it done yet?" but Brock was very patient with her.

"Just as I told you," Flint said.

"Yeah," Ash agreed.

* * *

Back at Flint's cabin, the group sat down to have another cup of tea, since they hadn't had time to finish their first one.

"Why did you show that to me, Flint?" Ash asked.

"Sometimes if you want to win a battle, it helps to know your opponent better," Flint responded simply. "And I think you certainly can beat Brock, Ash. In fact, I know of a way we could power up Pikachu."

"Power up Pikachu?" Ash repeated.

Flint nodded. "There's an old hydroelectric dam nearby. I've often heard of Trainers going there and hooking up their Electric Pokémon to power them up. What do you think? Will you give it a try?"

Ash thought about it for a moment. If he powered up Pikachu by giving it a supplementary electric charge from the dam, it might be able to damage Brock's Onix. Flint certainly seemed to think so, and he seemed to know quite a lot about Brock. On the other hand, the reason Ash hadn't accepted the badge was because the water had given Pikachu an unfair advantage. If he were to power up Pikachu, wouldn't that give him an unfair advantage as well?

Ash shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think Pikachu needs to be powered up artificially. We'll train properly, and we'll have a fair battle."

Flint seemed surprised. He didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, he exhaled and said, "All right. Good luck."

* * *

Ash and his friends had found a small open field on the side of the road to Mt. Moon. Ash had deemed it a suitable place for training, so there they were. It was time to get Pikachu trained up.

"Ash, it's a fact that electric attacks can't hurt ground-type Pokémon," Leaf tried to tell him. "Does Pikachu know any non-electric attacks?"

Misty spoke up. "I've seen a few Pikachu before," she said, "and they often know Quick Attack from quite an early stage. You could try that."

Ash nodded. "Sounds good. Let's give it a shot, Pikachu! Use Quick Attack on that rock there!"

Pikachu began to sprint toward the rock. It gritted its teeth and ran as fast as it could. Its cheeks began to spark brightly, and…

"Chuuu!" Pikachu unleashed an electric shock from its body which struck the rock, cracking it in two.

"Well, that certainly wasn't a Quick Attack," Serena commented.

"Pikachu has always used electricity to attack," Misty said, "and it's not used to attacking without it. It might take a bit of getting used to."

"Pikachu, try again! Use Quick Attack!" Ash called.

"Pika!" Pikachu said as it started to charge at the cracked rock again. A few sparks came from its cheeks, and it gritted its teeth harder to try and prevent the building electric charge from escaping. Still, it was no use. Pikachu released the electricity onto the rock.

"We'll just keep trying, Pikachu!" Ash told it.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

Suddenly, a rustling came from the bushes on the side of the clearing to Ash's right. A bird Pokémon stepped out and walked slowly into the open, searching the ground and pecking at it occasionally. It seemed to be looking for food. The Pokémon resembled a Pidgey, but it was larger. Ash grabbed his Pokédex to scan it.

"Pidgeotto, the bird Pokémon," the Pokédex said. "It has sharp claws and dives from the sky to capture its prey. It is not nearly as gentle as Pidgey."

Ash remembered his first encounter with a Pidgey, on the group's first day out of Pallet Town. He had been too incompetent to capture one then, but since then he had learned a lot, and maybe he could try catching this Pidgeotto.

"Pikachu, we're going to catch it!" he decided. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachuuu!" The Thunderbolt attack struck the Pidgeotto dead on, and it quickly flapped its wings and rose into the air, turning to face Pikachu.

"Thunderbolt again, Pikachu!" Ash cried.

"Pidgeoooo!" The Pidgeotto nearly fell out of the air this time, but it regained its balance and began flapping its wings rapidly, forming a Gust attack.

"Look out, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, but the Gust attack was too fast, and Pikachu was caught in it. The attack brought up a cloud of dust, causing Ash to cough, and when it settled, the two Pokémon were panting and staring intensely at one another.

Pidgeotto flew toward Pikachu, ready to strike with a Wing Attack. Without waiting for a command from Ash, Pikachu ran straight at the oncoming Pidgeotto. It was running faster than Ash had ever seen before. "Pikachu!" it yelled as it slammed its body into the bird Pokémon before it could finish the Wing Attack. The Pidgeotto let out a cry of "Pidgeooo!" as it fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Nice work, Pikachu! Looks like you've got the Quick Attack figured out!" Ash said. Then, realizing he should take this chance while he had it, he grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it. "Poké Ball, go!"

There was a flash of light. Pidgeotto disappeared inside the Poké Ball, which began to shake. For an agonizing moment, it looked as if the ball would burst open again, but finally it stopped moving with a "ding".

Ash stepped forward and picked up the Poké Ball. "All right! I caught a Pidgeotto!" he yelled, holding it high above his head.

"Pikachu!" the mouse Pokémon added as it ran to congratulate its Trainer. But suddenly, it stopped dead in its tracks.

Ash looked at it in concern. "What's the matter, Pikachu?"

Pikachu had its eyes shut tightly. It seemed like it was in pain.

"Ash, maybe we should take Pikachu to the Pokémon Center," Serena suggested. "It's probably sore from the battle."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. He took a step toward Pikachu, but suddenly its eyes snapped open again.

"Pikachu," it said in a low voice. It stared straight at Ash, and its eyes didn't look natural. They were completely black, like black holes, a pure black that reflected no light and seemed to be the color of death itself.

"Umm… Pikachu?" Ash said nervously.

"Pikachuuu!" It shot what was perhaps the strongest Thunderbolt of its life straight at Ash, who was thrown backward into a tree.

Ash struggled to stand up. "Pikachu, what's gotten into you?" he said.

Pikachu either didn't hear Ash, or it didn't care. It turned to Leaf, Serena and Misty, who were all getting up to run for cover, and it began to charge up its electricity.

"Pikachu, what are you doing?!" Ash yelled. The mouse Pokémon unleashed the energy with a menacing screech quite unlike its regular cry. It struck a tree next to where the girls were running, but it didn't stop there. It continued the attack, striking erratically around the girls. As they were just ducking behind a tree, Pikachu found a target: Leaf. Once the Thunderbolt attack hit her, Pikachu forced all its energy into the attack, and when it stopped, she fell to the ground in an unmoving heap.

Pikachu wasn't done. It began shocking everything in sight: trees, bushes, rocks, logs, and anything else it could see. It launched a particularly powerful Thunderbolt at the boulder where it had been practicing its Quick Attack just minutes before. A large chunk of the rock flew up into the air, and it struck the trunk of the tree where Serena and Misty were hiding. Serena let out a scream and ran as the tree began to topple. She ducked behind another nearby tree. Misty wasn't so lucky. As she turned to run, she tripped on a root, and fell on her stomach. As she turned to look up, the last thing she saw was the trunk of the tree as it fell straight toward her head.

"Pikachu, stop!" Ash ran forward toward the electric mouse Pokémon, and it turned to him.

"Ash, don't!" Serena cried, but it was too late, and she wasn't quick enough to cover her eyes. She saw Ash, with a tear in his eye, running toward Pikachu. She saw the electric attack striking him in the chest as if it was in slow motion. She watched as he flew backward, straight at the tree that she and Misty were hiding behind, and finally, he fell to the ground motionlessly next to Leaf, only a few feet away.

"No! Ash!" she cried. She wished she could do something, but Pikachu's attacks seemed to be powered up much more than usual, and she knew that sending out a Pokémon would be useless. She could only watch helplessly from behind the tree.

Pikachu's rampage continued, and eventually it made its way into the forest where it found more to attack. Serena occasionally heard the pained cries of Pokémon – victims of Pikachu's attacks, no doubt. Once the sounds were far enough away that Serena decided it was safe to come out from her hiding place, she knew she had to do something. She could carry one person back to the Pokémon Center, but who?

Ash, she decided. He had been hit twice and was probably the most in need of medical attention. Then she could get some help to bring back Leaf and Misty.

* * *

Serena pushed open the door, panting, with Ash's limp body draped over her shoulder. The nurse came over immediately, saying, "My goodness! What happened?" Serena tried to explain, but the thoughts in her head were a spinning blur. She knew one thing for sure, though: Leaf and Misty were still there, and they had to go back for them. Serena persuaded Nurse Joy to come with her to bring back the two girls. They didn't speak much as they needed to save their energy. Finally, when they had returned to the Pokémon Center, Serena told the whole story to Nurse Joy as she laid Ash, Leaf and Misty in their hospital beds.

"That is a very strange story," the nurse commented when she was done. "I've never heard of anything like that happening before."

"Will they be all right?" Serena asked.

"They haven't sustained any life-threatening injuries," Nurse Joy replied. "I expect they'll all be back to normal in a couple of days."

Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

* * *

 **I know I blamed the lateness of this chapter on my grandma, but really it's also because I procrastinated. So, to prevent that, I've decided to set a deadline for myself. The next chapter should be up on the 5** **th** **.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the chapter, only a week late! Maybe the schedule thing isn't for me. I'll just try to update every week or two.**

* * *

CHAPTER VII

Ash was wide awake quite quickly after he woke up. He was rather annoyed to find that he had woken up in a hospital bed yet again. This was happening too often for his liking. How had he ended up here this time, anyway? He had been training with Pikachu for his rematch with Brock, and… Pikachu had tried to kill him and his friends. Why? Even though they had only been together for a few weeks, Pikachu had become a really good friend to him. What had happened to it? Was the old Pikachu gone forever? Where was Pikachu, anyway?

"Ash, how are you feeling?" That was Nurse Joy.

"Fine, actually," Ash replied. He then took a deep breath. "Where's Pikachu?"

"Pikachu is still in the forest," Nurse Joy replied. "No one has had a chance to go looking for it."

"How long has it been?"

"About five hours."

Great. Pikachu could be anywhere in the forest. And who knew what condition it was in.

"I'm going to look for it," Ash said, standing up. He winced in pain and fell down on one knee – even though he felt fine when lying down, he was still sore when he tried to stand.

"No, you're not," Nurse Joy told him. "You're staying here until you're completely healed up."

"But –" Ash tried to protest, but Nurse Joy grabbed his shoulders and guided him back to the bed.

"You can't go out there alone, looking for Pikachu. For all we know, it might try to kill you again. It won't help if you're injured."

"All right," Ash conceded. He laid his head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. "Pikachu…"

* * *

Misty awoke in a hospital bed as well. Her body was sore all over. What had happened to Ash's Pikachu? It certainly wasn't normal. It was like something had possessed it…

"Misty? Are you awake?" It was Serena's voice.

Misty nodded, but realizing Serena couldn't see her, she said, "Yes."

Serena pulled open the curtains and entered. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Misty replied. "Have you figured out what happened to Pikachu? Why did it act like that?"

Serena shook her head. "No one knows anything. It's like nothing like anything that has ever happened before."

Misty exhaled and looked at Serena's eyes. "I guess it was your turn to save our lives," she said thoughtfully.

"Heh… I guess so," Serena replied. "It's the least I could do after you all saved my life on that first day."

There was silence for a moment as the flooding thoughts ran through their heads. Finally, Serena spoke up. "I'm going to check on Leaf. I'll let Nurse Joy know you're awake."

"Thank you, Serena," Misty said sincerely.

* * *

"Leaf? You awake?"

Leaf blinked her eyes open groggily. "Yeah, I'm awake," she said automatically. Where was she? Oh, the hospital. That's right – Pikachu had gone, uh, a bit insane. What had happened to it? And what had happened to everyone else?

"How are you doing?" Serena asked as she came in.

"I'm all right," Leaf replied. "What happened to Pikachu and everyone else?"

"Ash and Misty both got knocked out as well. Pikachu went off into the forest, a-and I was too scared to follow it. And I thought it was best to bring you all back." Serena was still a bit shaken up by the experience, and a few tears rolled down her face. She tried her best to keep calm.

"You did the best thing," Leaf said in a comforting tone. "And everyone is going to be fine, right? And then all we have to do is go find Pikachu, and things will be back to normal."

She made it sound so easy, but Serena knew it was easier said than done. "What if Pikachu doesn't go back to normal?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Serena wasn't at all comforted by these words. No one could guarantee that Pikachu would be all right, since no one knew what had happened.

"We have to find out what happened to Pikachu," she said. "We can't risk this happening again."

"I know," Leaf said, but she seemed to be distracted by her thoughts.

"I'll go check on Ash," Serena said. "I haven't seen him yet, but the nurse said he's awake."

Leaf nodded. "All right. See you soon, I guess."

"Yeah," Serena replied.

After Serena pulled the curtains shut behind her, Leaf heard a door click – that was Serena leaving the room. It was almost eerily silent. Moments later, another fainter click, which must be Serena entering Ash's room. The next sounds that Leaf heard did not bring good news: a gasp, a flurry of footsteps, and Serena's voice repeatedly shouting, "Ash is gone!"

* * *

Ash limped down the road. The sun would be setting soon, and if he didn't act fast, Pikachu could be gone for good. Nurse Joy had told him to stay put, but that wasn't an option.

Ash walked around a bend in the road and saw before him, in the dimming light, the clearing where it had all happened. Seeing the clearing brought back the bad memories stronger than anything else, especially when he saw the toppled tree and the large chunks of rock lying around it. But it didn't discourage him. It only made him more determined to find Pikachu. He had brought his other Pokémon, Butterfree and Pidgeotto, with him, so they could defend him in case of an emergency, though Ash had to admit to himself that they probably wouldn't stand a chance against Pikachu in its angered state.

"Pikachu?" he called into the forest. There was no response. He took a few steps forward, carefully because his body was still sore. Not carefully enough, though. A sudden jolt of pain surged through his body as a rope pulled him upward by his left leg, tightening around his ankle. Ash fought frantically to get it off, but it was no use. His struggling only seemed to make it tighter.

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan," a familiar female voice said.

Three figures came out from a hidden spot in the nearby bushes. Ash recognized them as Jessie, James and Meowth of Team Rocket.

"Team Rocket! What are you up to now?" Ash cried in outrage.

"You're coming with us," James said, avoiding the question. The three Team Rocket members grabbed Ash forcefully and tied up his arms and legs. Ash tried to fight back, but he was outnumbered. He was then carried through the forest, all while squirming and screaming in protest. Finally he was thrown in the back of a truck. The door was slammed shut and it became pitch black. Moments later, the truck's engine started. It wasn't a smooth ride, and Ash was thrown all over the place. He couldn't reach for his Poké Balls to help him, and he had no way of contacting the others at the Pokémon Center. His only option seemed to be to wait and see what Team Rocket wanted with him.

* * *

"Ash? Where are you? Ash!"

Those were the shouts that came from Serena in the police car that was driven by Officer Jenny. Nurse Joy was back at the Pokémon Center with Leaf and Misty, and Serena had contacted the local Officer Jenny to report that Ash was missing.

"This is where we last saw Pikachu," Serena said as they came to the open field.

"Do you think this is where he would have started looking?" Officer Jenny asked.

Serena nodded. "If he's thinking straight, he probably would've started here."

The two got out of the car to have a look around. Serena didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she scanned the perimeter of the field. Suddenly, something caught her eye.

"Officer Jenny! There's a set of footprints in the moss leading into the forest here."

Officer Jenny rushed over to have a look. "They look fresh. I'd say this looks promising, Serena. Let's follow them."

The two walked in silence, staring at the footprints attentively as if they might suddenly move. But they came across something odd.

"The footprints seem to stop here," Officer Jenny said. It was certainly strange – the footprints kept going straight until they vanished from existence. What had happened here? Officer Jenny looked farther ahead. "Hold on… there are a whole bunch of fresh prints here. More than one person. And they're all going… this way."

* * *

Ash was in a dimly lit room. Where, he had no clue. He had been there maybe five minutes with no clue what Team Rocket planned to do with him. His arms and legs were still tied as he lay on the ground.

The door creaked open. "Well, well. Ash Ketchum," a man's cold voice sneered. "I hear you've been causing trouble. I suppose I should have expected that, coming from the son of Red Ketchum. But it's not a problem now. You'll be dead soon, and your father too. Then you'll be out of our way."

"Don't you dare lay your dirty hands on my father!" Ash yelled.

The dark man chuckled. "So noble, putting your father's life above your own. It's a shame you both have to die."

"Will you stop saying that?!" Ash said irritatedly. "I won't go down so easily!"

"Ash, you're tied up on the floor of an empty storage room with no idea where you are. You stand no chance. Your execution is tomorrow. Have fun with what's left of your life." The man turned to leave the room.

"Wait," Ash said. "Were you behind what happened to Pikachu?"

The man stopped and turned back to face him. "Team Rocket has allies you could never imagine," he said mysteriously.

* * *

"Tire tracks? In the middle of the forest?" Serena said in bewilderment.

"This is excellent," Officer Jenny said.

"Why?" Serena asked.

"We can follow tire tracks in a helicopter," she explained. "Let's go back and get one. It'll be faster that way."

It was when they were almost back at the Pokémon Center that the strange man appeared. He seemed to appear out of thin air. Serena didn't notice and walked right into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said as she started to fall over but caught herself.

The small elderly man didn't respond. Instead, he adjusted his glasses on his nose and looked into Serena's eyes as if he was looking right through them. "Your soul… your soul is delicate. Pure, yes, very pure, but also very delicate. Keep it safe – you don't want to get it poisoned."

The man turned and walked away remarkably quickly for his old age. Serena just stared at him in shock.

"Come on, ignore it," Officer Jenny told her. "We've got to figure out what happened to Ash."

"Right." Serena shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Let's go."

* * *

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Ash."

The man who Ash presumed to be the Team Rocket leader had returned. His tone of voice was the same as usual. Ash was sure this wouldn't be any good news.

"How do you even know my name? I never told you," Ash said. "And who are you?"

"Ketchum is a very familiar name to Team Rocket," the man replied bitterly. "That's why it's important that we eliminate you. My name is Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket. And soon, President of Kanto, once we take over the government. That's what will happen. Our little secret. And then..." He laughed evilly. "I could keep you alive just long enough to see that happen, and kill you then. Would you prefer that? Mind you, I don't plan to make your life comfortable."

Ash didn't answer. "Whatever you're trying to achieve, can't you do it properly? Without killing people?"

"There's no need. It wouldn't make it any easier. It can't get any easier!" Giovanni laughed. "Your execution will be tomorrow morning, by firing squad." He left. He didn't seem to have any reason for visiting Ash other than to mess with his thoughts.

* * *

While Officer Jenny piloted the helicopter, Serena stared out the window, lost in her thoughts. Normally, she would have been excited – she had never been in a helicopter before – but she was too worried about Ash. Where was he right now? Had someone taken him? Someone like Team Rocket?

The helicopter turned to the right, following the tire tracks that seemed to go on for ages. The forest didn't end, and according to their maps they seemed to be heading into the middle of nowhere. There were no towns or even roads for miles around them.

"Look here!" Officer Jenny said suddenly. "The tire tracks vanish here!"

She was right. The tracks just seemed to end right here in the middle of the forest, but there was no sign of the vehicle that had made them.

"Let's go down for a closer look," she said.

Upon closer inspection, the tires actually went into a tunnel in the ground. "Do you think we should go in?" Serena asked. "Ash might be in there."

"It's worth a try," Officer Jenny responded. She turned on her flashlight to light the black tunnel before them, and in they went.

* * *

 **I hope this chapter was as good as previous ones. I've been dealing with, uh, personal issues, which may have been the cause of my lack of motivation. Still, I'll try to get the next one up soon.**


End file.
